There is virtually nothing that offends this author, but what just transpired breaks that mold.

George Herbert Walker Bush – 41st President of the United States, member of the Greatest Generation, World War II Navy pilot, and a family man of unquestioned decency – was just shown the ultimate disrespect by having his casket draped in an appallingly wrinkled American flag.

Don’t think it’s true? Look again.

Many missed the unseemly creases in the first photo, undoubtedly distracted by President Bush’s service dog lying in front of his casket. But as President Bush now lies in state inside the Capitol, the wrinkles are clearly still there – evidence that either no one noticed, or, more alarming, cared enough to fix it.

How is this possible? When did Americans stop caring about such things? When did attention to detail become relegated to the trash can? When did we become so self-absorbed that we lack any shame for that which is downright shameful?

They say that every generation looks at the past through rose-colored glasses, convinced that “things used to be better.” That’s frequently inaccurate. But when comparing the Greatest Generation – with their can-do work ethic, perseverance, and solve-rather-than-complain attitude – to today’s America, where many are offended by everything, entitled to even more, and take vanity to unprecedented heights, it ain’t even close.

President Bush deserved more. A lot more. Shame on us for not delivering.

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Here’s the situation:

1) Bring on the critics who will blast this column as pointless, with comments such as “This trash is the best you have?”; “Must be a slow news day!;” and “You actually get paid for such dribble?”

Fine. Spitballs off a battleship. The beauty of America is that people are entitled to their opinions – however misguided.

But worse are those who will shrug their shoulders and say, “Yeah. You're right. They should have done it better. But (expletive) happens. And we have bigger problems.”

Wrong answer.

In fact, that attitude is one of the underlying reasons for the decline of America’s traditional value system. At its core, it is a mentality built on excuses and “buts:” “Yes, we should have done it better, but …” Or “Mistakes were made, but …” And the new favorite: “I’m sorry, but …”

Everything these days is “conditional,” which is a fancy way of saying that passing the buck is the new norm. True remorse is scant, and it has become chic to not hold people accountable for their actions. After all, it’s much easier to blame everyone and everything else. Do poorly in school? It’s the teacher’s fault. Subpar in a game? Blame the refs. Late for work? Hey, six-hour days are brutal. A celebrity genuinely offends? It’s not “I’m sorry,” but a conditional, publicist-worded non-apology. The “sorry if someone was offended” line now routinely supplants an actual apology. It’s so out-of-hand that many blame elected officials and organizations for mass shootings, terror attacks or crime sprees rather than those pulling the trigger.

We’d be a lot better off if our love affair with the mirror wasn’t for vanity, but instead self-reflection as to who we are, and the type of people we aspire to be.

2) When we continue to give free passes for errors of both commission and omission, the result is widespread mediocrity, and a “normalcy bias” for constant mistakes. From fast food to health insurers to cable TV companies, mistakes are so commonplace that they’ve become the new norm – forcing customers to pick up the slack.

Even the media is complicit. The real “fakeness” isn’t institutional political bias, but the false pretense that it still adheres to journalistic standards. Fact is, every day, national media entities publish stories loaded with grammatical and contextual mistakes. Many headlines are grossly misleading, and story content is often fraught with errors and omissions. The worst part is that these mistakes usually go uncorrected, ostensibly because a new generation of Americans simply doesn’t care enough to get it right – or demand that it be fixed.

The jettisoning of attention to detail, combined with a lack of shame when we get things wrong, have pervaded every level of society. We are human, so obviously mistakes will be made. The question is how those errors are handled. It used to be that mistakes would be corrected not only to make things right, but because we were embarrassed by the error.

But today, many (especially in the Millennial generation) simply don't care, preferring instead to focus on their next complaint-du-jour.

3) There is simply no excuse for a president to be draped in a wrinkled flag. He is surrounded by family, staff, Secret Service, military officials and protocol experts. Is it really possible that not one person noticed the flag looking as though it had been rolled into a ball? And that no one either made sure it got ironed, or a pressed flag be found? The lack of situational-awareness, not to mention common sense, is baffling.

George Bush, as a lieutenant, was required to have a pressed uniform. His bunk was undoubtedly mandated to be wrinkle-free. As businessman, congressman, CIA director, and president, Mr. Bush’s attire was expected to be, and always was, crisp and presentable – just the way it should be.

Likewise, if one attends a sales meeting in a wrinkled outfit, there’s a good chance he’ll lose the deal. Ditto for showing up to an interview in a crumpled suit. Hell, more attention is given to ironing hotel bedsheets or preparing a Saturday night outfit than was provided for President Bush’s final goodbye.

And let’s not forget that the insult doesn’t stop at President Bush. It is also offensive to the flag itself, and all that it symbolizes. If we can’t treat the endearing symbol of our freedom with the utmost respect, how can we properly venerate anything else?

4) In our hyper-partisan country, there will surely be those who snicker at the wrinkles because they disagreed with Mr. Bush politically, happy that he was dishonored. How sad.

And the same would go for Presidents Obama or Trump. If Mr. Obama’s casket flag was in deplorable condition, many would say it was fitting since he was a “Muslim” who “hated America.” And for Mr. Trump? The Right would label it a Deep State conspiracy, and the Left would be dancing on his grave, desecrating his life even more.

How did we get so far off-track that we afford no dignity, even in death, to those with whom we disagree? Probably not the best attitude, given that someday we will all be judged.

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There will likely be some apologists who make excuses for the wrinkles, but all will fall short. If the flag had been previously folded, then it should have been ironed. And if there is some super-secret government protocol about flags being wrinkled for a president’s viewing, then that should have been publicized.

But we know that’s not the case.

What we do know – because it’s painfully obvious – is that incompetence occurs at the very highest levels, and it’s only getting worse. It’s also clear that in today’s America, people value Uber, what type of latte they’ll order, and how many shows they can watch simultaneously over the things that truly matter.

Too bad they don’t realize that the very reason they have those choices is because the Greatest Generation fought with uncommon valor against the most dire threat to freedom the world had ever known.

Flag or no flag, that will be a legacy that will never be wrinkled.

President Bush, you deserved more, and you have our gratitude.

Requiescat in pace.

Chris Freind is an independent columnist and commentator whose column appears every Wednesday. He can be reached at CF@FFZMedia.com